tale
29
5.1
- noun
- /teɪl/
- When asked about his missing homework, he spun a quick tale about his dog eating it.
- tall tale
- old wives' tales
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Watch on YouTubeAnd the last thing I'll say about this is when Harry and Meghan were first peddling their tales of racist woe to Oprah Winfrey.
- And the last thing I'll say about this is when Harry and Meghan were first peddling their tales of racist woe to Oprah Winfrey.
- I mean, I think in retrospect, that whole campaign looks like a pie in the sky kind of fairy tale.
Examples
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I've never heard such tall tales!
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It's an old wives's tale and you know it.
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Lieutenant, do you have any idea why he might come here with a tale like that?
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If this is another tall tale, I'm not interested in this.
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It's an old folk tale.
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His tall tales have increased, and we're tired of him making accusations.
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Again and again, the authors tell gripping tales of big government gone bad.
Academic text (1998) -
And I didn't get paid the first couple times, as is the classic tale of the unpaid intern in New York.
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Today's story tells the all too frequent tale of a one and four year old who are left caught in the middle of a heated domestic dispute.
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And I spun this tale about how I went to school and what I'd had for lunch and what uniform I wore and who I'd played with and everything.
Synonyms
40
3.4
A made-up story told to hide the truth or deceive people
36
4.9
A false story told to trick or impress people
23
4.0
A story that says things are bigger or more amazing than they really are to be funny
17
7.5
A lie told to avoid trouble
16
3.7
A small lie told to avoid hurting someone
1
5.5
A made up story told to hide the truth
A small lie that is not serious
A small harmless lie told to amuse or avoid trouble
Antonyms
Idioms
Compounds
- Literature
23
4.0
A story that says things are bigger or more amazing than they really are to be funny
2
3.1
A story about exciting, often dangerous journeys where people do brave things
- Literature
1
4.3
A story about a brave person who faces danger, for example a knight fighting a dragon
- Literature
1
9.1
A story from the Bible about a man who keeps his faith during great suffering
- Archaic
An exciting old-fashioned adventure story with brave heroes and daring acts
How Serious
Surface Forms
Etymology
Tale comes from an old word for 'speech' or 'story' and is related to tell. That link helps you remember that a 'tale' can also mean a made-up or false story someone tells.